A Long Road to Freedom
by Lord of Judgement
Summary: "...The situation is quite dire, Your Majesty... It began with Dist and the blemished replica of Professor Nebilim." Jade turned to the fourth and last attendee, a young man with red hair and piercing green eyes who sat with a morose countenance in the farthest corner of the room. "Asch, explain." Post-Game, somewhat AU.
1. Prologue

**Summary: **Post-Game, partly AU, where Asch survives and Luke fon Fabre dies in the battle of Eldrant. Centered around Asch, Natalia and Jade.

**Warning**: blood, graphic violence.

**Rating**: T/M.

**Pairings**: Asch/Natalia. Jade/Peony.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Tales of the Abyss _world, story or characters.

**Author's Note: **So I took some ideas from **Andante** and worked them into a different story. It's slightly AU when it comes to the events on Eldrant, and all will be explained in due time. However, in my version,_ Luke is dead,_ so if this upsets you, don't read any further.

I also wanted to explore a mysterious character who wasn't in the game, but is in the universe, and whom I found oddly appealing. Cantabile. So there will be a lot about her.

* * *

**A LONG ROAD TO FREEDOM**

**Prologue**

The silence, which ensued on Jade's entrance into the briefing room, was such that one could hear buzz of a lone bee attracted to the aroma of fresh flowers on the windowsill and rustle of paper in the wind. The other participants of the urgent meeting, four altogether, including Emperor Peony, have arrived earlier. They watched the General with apprehension, as though they expected him to be the bearer of terrible news, although it seemed that no calamity could sacrilegiously mar such peaceful sunny morning. They fixed their eyes on his light-blue uniform with glittering golden buttons and each of them had thought of something remarkably similar. When the world was on the brink of destruction three years ago, there and then only could they recall a silence so overwhelming.

Jade Curtiss, who was for his merits and heroism in the battle of Eldrant promoted to the deserved rank of General, seated himself and sustained a meaningful pause, studying the attendees in front of him above the rim of his glasses. The Emperor insisted to be present even though Jade would rather discuss it with Guy and Sesemann first and only then place the burden of knowledge on Peony's shoulders. The others were there, too; they studied his reports and shared his views that...

"...The situation is quite dire, Your Majesty," he finished the thought aloud, with the calmness so characteristic of him. "It is more dire than we had initially considered although, I assure you, there is no reason for you to worry yet. It began with Dist and the blemished replica of Professor Nebilim. At first, even I hadn't seen the connection and the blame for that rests solely on my shoulders. It was easy for me to overlook the danger. After the battle on Eldrant, I thought the worst had already come to pass."

"When you say it like that, Jade," interjected the Emperor, "I don't feel assured at all."

"Then, perhaps, it is for the best if someone else says it in my stead." Jade turned to the fourth and last attendee, a young man with red hair and piercing green eyes who sat with a morose countenance in the farthest corner of the room. "Asch, explain."


	2. A perfectly ordinary murder

**Chapter I. A perfectly ordinary murder**

When Eldrant fell, Asch at last found a small measure of peace. It was a sudden gift given to him by the people he did not expect it from, but it was his and it marked the end of his ordeal, like a finish line drawn with white paint on the pavement. He was terribly fatigued, but he hadn't given up; he never gave up, he lived on although he should have died many times, and when he embraced that peace within himself, that bitter-sweet, invigorating feeling of freedom, he stopped counting. It made no difference to him. Natalia begged him to return to Baticul. Frightened and confused and irate, he rejected her offer – he was not ready. He vowed not to return to the Duke's residence and he was intent, with daring, irrational obstinacy which helped him survive for so long, to keep his word. He was Luke and he was Asch, with memories of both, with burdens of both which he inherited with the replica's death, and it seemed to him as wrong as ever to show up one day at his father's home and assume the role assigned to the heir of the Duchy by birth right, assume it as if the previous eight years had been but a terrible dream.

Therefore, when Jade suggested that he joined the Malkuth military, Asch easily acceded to the request. It was perfectly simple and happened quite naturally. With the disappearance of the Planetary Storm, strong fonists and, in particular, those capable of controlling the Seventh Fonon, became scarce. He was given an opportunity to begin his life anew, as neither Luke, nor Asch, in a manner he desired, but he kept both names as a relic from his past, as convenience which lost the power and appeal, but not the significance. His subordinates sometimes addressed him as Colonel Fabre. He didn't mind.

The Emperor and the Council entrusted important duties to him. He had to supervise and train a separate unit of fonists, all that was left of the once glorious army of Malkuth which heavily depended on healers and wielders of powerful artes. They couldn't burden Jade any further after he expressed initiative to oversee the creation of rehabilitation facilities for replicas where they would be taught basic disciplines and taken care of until they could seamlessly rejoin the outside world. Both kingdoms allocated resources to this grandiose undertaking, developing closer ties with each other through trade and scientific research, and sometimes Asch would even catch a glimpse of Natalia. They would talk, often about the state of affairs or this and that nonsense (she would ask him how Guy was dealing with Luke's death or whether he heard from Tear, to which he grudgingly but without anger replied that it wasn't his duty to keep in touch with the replica's friends) and leave afterwards with an inexplicable feeling of satisfaction. Perhaps, one day he would return, but before it were to pass, he had much to do.

Time had passed, memories of Eldrant's fall faded, the wounds ceased bleeding and only ached from time to time, therefore he began hoping that the day of reckoning would never come. He had somehow fooled himself into believing that in the world without guarantees he could nevertheless cherish forlorn a hope that everything would change after people rejected the Score.

And then, on a perfectly ordinary Remday, Asch visited doctor Mengde when a messenger passed him a request from Jade to meet him outside the military quarters for a chat. Jade never asked anyone to meet him for an idle conversation and Asch rightfully suspected it was but a pretext, yet he had already received many complaints from authorities about persistent disobedience and this time decided to show up on time.

Here it should be said that the doctor he met that afternoon was a replica. Doctor Mengde, as he insisted to be called, was replicated from an unknown original who had passed away before the fall of Eldrant. Having spent only a few months in rehabilitation, he showed remarkable talent and affinity to science. He wanted to assist his brethren as much as he could and the Council, encouraged by Jade's recommendation, allowed him to become a free citizen of Malkuth Empire. Other replicas trusted him and soon he became an inspiration for replicas and originals alike; at least, for those originals who stubbornly clung to the Score or, rather, expressed zeal to seek the new guidance from the Planet. It was doctor Mengde who aided them in uncovering a sect of false Scorers who offered fake Score readings to people who were willing to pay a lot of gald for it. Asch neither liked, nor disliked Mengde for being a replica, but he was curious about a man who in the absence of the original could hardly be viewed as a substitute. He had unusual views of the Score as well. The doctor didn't outright support or condemn people's dependency on the Score which infuriated Asch who was convinced that they could find the truth only by looking with their own eyes and walking with their own feet. He explained that people wanted certainty and safety and for that alone they should not be judged. He proposed to reveal to the public the existence and contents of the Closed Score and encouraged establishments of unions and guilds for artisans who had chosen their profession themselves. Safety, guarantees... there were no guarantees in the world where Asch lived.

But it wasn't doctor Mengde who concerned Asch when he met the former Colonel by one of the splendid fountains of Grand Chokmah. Instead of a greeting, he stared at the General's light-blue coat laced with golden and silver thread, wondering whether it was a gift from Emperor Peony who held Jade in high regard. He always thought his superior looked a bit absurd in it.

"What do you want?" He asked abruptly.

"You are charming, as always," Jade muttered in response, lifting his hands in dismay. "If I didn't have something important to talk about, would I call for you? The Emperor... no, _I_ have a task for you. The Emperor doesn't know anything yet."

"I don't have time for your theatrics, there is somewhere I have to be in an hour."

"Are you visiting doctor Mengde again? I'm afraid you'll have to postpone that. You're leaving as soon as Ginji prepares the Albiore."

Nothing has changed in three years. Jade was as perceptive as ever and Asch had to admit to himself that it was easier to lie to Van, not that he had intended to achieve anything in doing so.

"Fine, I'll go. But I need at least a simple explanation. What's going on?"

"It isn't anything out of the ordinary, a series of strange murders and disappearances near Engeve village. Rose... an acquaintance of mine, sent for help after the number of victims had exceeded a dozen. I am sending you because I have a suspicion that a fonist is involved."

"Why don't you send Guy in my stead?" Why did he mention Guy? Guy hadn't forgiven him for Luke's death. "He is quite capable of dealing with a mad fonist. He was there when we defeated Van or have you forgotten?"

"No need to insult my memory," a thin smile appeared on Jade's lips. "But I want it to be you. You're quick on the uptake and I don't want any ruinous rumors to spread about gruesome murders occurring in the heart of the Empire. The world was on the brink of destruction once and people remember calamities better than years of prosperity afterwards."

"By the way, only you would call something like that... ordinary."

"What isn't ordinary about it, Asch?" There was a short pause before Jade uttered his name, as if the former Colonel wanted to call him _Luke_ instead, but perhaps that pause, that hesitation was but a fancy of his. "A brutal use of force without imagination or a pragmatic goal... If I weren't so busy, I'd go and clean up that mess myself."

Strange anxiety overcame him, as if there was something he had to do immediately and it was more important than Jade's request, but Asch dismissed it with a resolute nod. "I'll go. I'd hate to leave everything on your shoulders." He wasn't like his replica, he thought for himself and acted alone more often than he'd let others take the lead.

...A few hours later, Asch was sitting behind the pilot's seat of Albiore as it flew into the glowing sunset and pondered over Jade's farewell words which weren't encouraging in the least. Below stretched the green vast of Theor forest and in front of him, in thin and oblique rays of light, bobbed a small figurine Ginji kept as a good luck charm. It was a rather odd and misshapen figurine, resembling a mechanical doll on a stool he had fought in Choral castle, but it was given to him by his sister, Noelle, after he survived the crash on Eldrant. It was a miracle that the Albiore could still fly, but perhaps the flying machine was as stubborn as him, refusing to spend its last days in a dump for scrap metal as the remnant from the past – glorious, but nothing more than a useless relic.

Relic. Replica. Dreck...

...When he woke up from a jolt, it was far into night. They landed in a field overgrown with tall grass and wild flowers, cut atwain by a small rivulet. In the distance, loomed a formless bulk of the village, dotted with tremulous lights, which twinkled like fireflies in the dark. Full moon shone brightly and in its light rare trees threw their shadows sharply against the calm waters. Was this magic lull a deceiving prelude to a gruesome murder?

"Wait for me at the inn, Ginji. I'll look around for a while."

Asch girt himself with the sword and headed in the direction of a small grove on the opposite bank of the river slightly to the north from where they landed. He wet his boots, crossing the rivulet, although the waters weren't deep. His decision to head for the grove was prompted by Jade's description of a perfectly ordinary murder which had lodged in his memory and there was no place more suitable for that perfectly ordinary murder to occur than that distant grove. There was no path between the swaying stalks of grass which led to the grove and Asch walked blindly uphill, clutching the handle of his sword. He passed a cluster of trees when, suddenly, like thunder in the clear skies, a woman's voice hailed him: "Who goes there?!" Asch recognized the voice, which betrayed a commanding presence, but he couldn't recall the holder of that voice even if his life depended on it.

"Who is asking?" He replied, standing with his legs apart and unsheathed sword in his hand. An arrow flitted out of darkness and helplessly pecked the ground behind him.

"I gave no order to shoot, you dolts! You want to know who's asking? I'm asking and you should give me an honest answer or I'll order my knights to _decorate_ you with so many arrows that you'll look like a porcupine when I'd done with you." She stepped forward and in the silvery moonlight, Asch saw a tall woman of military bearing clad in garments of the Oracle Knights with what looked like a standup collar from the distance. He wasn't mistaken about a commanding aura she doubtlessly possessed. Her dark hair was cut shortly and unevenly, disorderly falling across her forehead, and she wore a patch over her left eye.

"Cantabile."

"Asch?! What brings you here? Of all coincidences, this certainly is the strangest."

"I could ask you the same thing," he sheathed his sword, "but I think we were sent here for the same reason."

"And what reason is that?.. Put away your weapons, he is... he used to be a part of the Order."

"Quit playing dumb, Cantabile. So the news of this incident has reached even Daath... Does anyone know what's going on here?"

"You know that by some you're still considered a traitor to the Order of Lorelei despite your heroic efforts in the battle of Eldrant. It's the Order's business."

There was a wild gleam in his eyes – Asch was a young man of inordinate temper – but he restrained himself this time and gave an inaudible mutter. "Fine," he added, "have it your way. I don't need your help."

"You misunderstood me... always so impatient! Some things never change even after years pass. Come to the inn tomorrow around noon, we'll talk."

With those words, she disappeared in the dark coppice. Asch looked round, in search of anything suspicious, but having failed to notice anything that stood out, headed downhill in the direction of the village.

**~o~**

_...The sword of Lorelei was smeared with blood. It trickled along the edge and fell onto the white marble floor, one heavy reluctant drop after another. A blind idiot wouldn't notice it and make a conjecture, but none of them could be carelessly considered blind idiots. They understood and in their eyes, Asch saw fear and hatred. Only Natalia looked at him with worry and with... joy, timid as yet, but it was joy that Asch saw unmistakably and for that he would kill Van and the remaining God Generals by himself. _

_Jade was always a mystery, but at least that man wouldn't endanger the important mission out of misguided loyalty to the replica. _

"_Let's go and finish this," he said, waving the bloodied sword in the vague direction of the Eldrant's heart._

"_Where is Luke?" It was Van's sister, Tear, who asked him that question. At first, he thought that the dreck had gotten himself too close to the enemy. "How could you... leave him behind? After all that happened, how could you fight him?!"_

_Tear he wouldn't deign with an answer, but Natalia needed to know... needed to understand. "We were both stupid enough to fall into the same trap. Only one of us could go on, the other had to hold the door open. I won the right to face Van."_

"_Then he's still trapped in that room. Is he in danger? I'm going to find him and catch up with you later."_

"_Don't be stupid, too, Tear. He is dying... we're both dying! We both made a choice that I should go on and stop Van with you. Respect his choice."_

"_Asch..."_

"_I-I..."_

_Both Tear and Natalia were on the verge of tears, but he had no time to sugar coat the truth for them. He had no time left at all._

"_Asch is correct. We should finish what we came here to do regardless," Jade concluded in a tone which allowed of no objections and in that moment, Asch felt grateful to him for his timely intervention... _

Asch woke up, covered in cold sweat on a fine and hot morning. The room in the inn was of irregular shape, its windows looking south and east, and the swelter by noon became unbearable. He ate a frugal breakfast, splashed his face with cold water and resolved to find Cantabile, but she was already waiting for him in the hall by herself, without her cronies from the Oracle Knights.

"If you wanted to say something, say it and I'll be on my way. If you came to ask whether I wish to return to the Oracle Knights, you already know my answer." Whenever he met Cantabile in the past, however briefly, he tried not to stare at her eye patch too intently.

"No one is asking you to return," she unfastened her belt, leaned her sword against the wall in the corner and seated herself at the table. "Did you kill Commandant Grants and Grand Maestro Mohs?"

"What if I did, would it change anything?"

"It would assure me that I can trust you, if that's what you're asking."

"All right, I took part in it. Are you satisfied?"

"Immeasurably." There was a flicker of astonishment in her eyes and a faint smile appeared on her lips. "What they say is true, after all. How amazing! But don't stand there like a pillar, have a seat or a drink or both; you're an eyesore like that!" She added at once, with unhidden irritation. When he reluctantly obliged, she continued. "You helped me immensely although you certainly wouldn't know that. My faction has always opposed Commandant Grants and we foolishly placed our hopes in Grand Maestro Mohs who, as you already know, killed Fon Master Ion. Under the guidance of a new Fon Master, Florian, we were able to make many needed reforms within the Order. There are still those who consider you a traitor, however, so I'd rather say it in the absence of prying ears. What happened in Engeve isn't ordinary, otherwise I wouldn't be here."

Asch grimaced as though he had tasted something very sour. "What is it now? Are you having problems with the Score again?"

"It is one possibility. Some officials in Daath believed that a mad Scorer could be behind these murders and disappearances. Not everyone took the news of the Score's defects lightly, it was hard especially on those who read it for a living and on those who made difficult decisions because of it."

"Fools, that's who they are... But what do _you_ make of all this nonsense?"

"I don't know, Asch." Cantabile said simply.

Suddenly, a very frightened man ran into the inn, screaming in a frenzy that there was another dead body by the river. Cantabile pushed the chair aside and ran up to the stranger, shielding him from the curious onlookers. "The mayor knows I am here," she announced loudly and before the villagers could object, dragged the man by the sleeve of his shirt into the street. Asch followed after her.

"Show us where you found the corpse," he ordered the man who was trembling all over and slurring words.

A large crowd had gathered on the outskirts of Engeve, but the man, although he was terrified, showed them another way to the place where a disturbing crime had allegedly occurred. "It happened here last night," he pointed to the dirty bloody spots on the crumpled grass. "I even saw the murderer. I told them I saw her, but they wouldn't listen!"

Cantabile shook her head, kneeling carefully by the spot where a body evidently lay before the villagers found it and took it away for a proper burial. "If you saw the murderer, then tell us who it was!" Asch, on the other hand, did not want to waste any time.

"It was a child, sire. I swear on my life, I saw a child. She couldn't be older than seven or eight cycles, short, dark-haired, dressed in a long skirt. She stood here and then... everything happened so fast... and then the man was dead. Dead, I tell you!"

Asch glanced at Cantabile and she glanced at him, with wrinkles of worry etched in the corners of her thin lips.

"A child? How's that even possible?"

"If we knew, we wouldn't have asked for your help."

"Why don't you retell us everything you have seen that night?" Cantabile made herself comfortable on the ground. "Start from the very beginning and do not omit any detail, however small and insignificant it may appear to you."

...When Asch briefly returned to the inn to write a letter to Grand Chokmah, he wondered whether Jade would still call the whole incident ordinary.


	3. Lacerations

**Chapter II. Lacerations**

Cantabile was relentless during the interrogation, but after she let the exhausted, frightened, slightly battered witness go, it seemed (and the irony of it was obvious to Asch) that they, despite their valiant efforts to uncover the truth, knew less than when they arrived to Engeve. They story they were told was incoherent and verged on the ridiculous. If the stranger wasn't so frightened, Asch would suggest that he had invented it to mock them. According to his testimony, he was returning from the neighboring village and it was dark so he didn't spot them at once and when he did, it was too late to intervene. There were two people arguing in the field, a child and a tall man who might have been her father; he was pleading with his daughter, but she didn't listen and then she struck him with something, in cold blood and with frightening ferocity. The witness, afterwards, cowardly ran without any sense of direction, thinking she was pursuing him, and returned to the village many hours after sunrise only to find the man dead and the child missing. "What nonsense!" Cantabile exclaimed to that and Asch agreed with her that the story sounded unsophisticated since children would not murder villagers in large numbers.

However, after they conversed with Rose, a plump woman of middle age and rather prepossessing demeanor who ran the affairs in the town, the absurdity of the situation only exacerbated as it turned out that there was indeed truth to the witnesses' words. Two children were missing after a series of rather bizarre murders and citizens of Engeve were on the verge of abandoning the accursed place.

"There must be some mistake," insisted Cantabile as they walked towards the mill without any apparent purpose. "What are you going to do now, Asch?"

"I am going to the Cheagle Woods. I won't believe anything these villagers say until I can confirm everything myself. They are frightened, that much is certain. Who wouldn't be? But fear takes molehills for mountains."

"I'll stay here, then, and talk to the families. Perhaps, parents of these missing children can shed some light on the true reason behind these murders. But... I have a favor to ask of you. When you are in the Cheagle Woods, can you look for anything _suspicious_?"

"I am already looking for everything suspicious. Isn't it what you were sent here for?"

Cantabile approached a wall of yellow brick where two knights, clad in full armor, were waiting for her. "Remember what I asked of you, that's all. Be on the lookout and don't miss anything due to carelessness."

"Some genius advice," Asch muttered to himself rather contemptuously, following the tall figure of the division commander with his eyes until she disappeared from sight. Or was she a division commander three years after he had last seen her? That question aroused doubts in his mind and the more he dwelt on it, the stronger those doubts grew.

Before he headed to the Cheagle Woods, Asch spent some time in a crowded square, listening to rumors and discontented grumble of the villagers, but learned only that the murders started a week or so ago when an elderly man was found in a ditch by the corn field, however, his death alerted no one since the victim was a renowned drunkard and a gambler. "That's exactly what was coming to him," said an old woman in a thin, trembling voice with a satisfied expression of a self-righteous, self-proclaimed prophet on her face. "I have been saying it for a while and now it happened just as I said it would. I didn't need a Score to see such deplorable outcome... Be warned that nothing good can come out of that terrible lifestyle, young man," she added, poking a thin, crooked, wrinkled finger at him. Everything refused to make sense that day and, seized with a sudden desire to leave Engeve and its troubles, Asch sneaked out of the village through a hole in the fence not too far away from the bright-yellow brick wall where he parted with Cantabile, which seemed at that moment a gift from Lorelei (or, rather, from the unruly lads who often escaped their duties to bask in the sun on the heaps of fresh hay). He was heading for the Cheagle Woods because he had nowhere else to go and whiling the time away at the village didn't sit well with his active, impetuous nature. It wasn't too far-fetched an idea to think that the missing children could have hidden in the forest and if they weren't in the forest, then he'd be alone for a short while. The prospect of solitude seemed more attractive to Asch than waiting for Cantabile in a crowded inn.

...The surreal tranquility of the forest impressed Asch deeply the moment he stepped inside the circles of trees. Spreading their branches every which way above the ground and heavenwards, whispering in the wind in a voice which was like a trickle running from patch to patch of dried sand, stood old beeches and oaks and in their shadow nestled up birches and maple trees. The great silence was soothing and invited a sober reflection. Asch found a fallen tree trunk which was covered in thick moss, leaned his sword against it and perched on the rotten branch, hiding his face in both palms. A familiar anxiety overcame him, as it happened now and then during the past three years; he had to recall something important he had forgotten – where, when, how? He could will himself to remember many things and, having fixed his gaze on the unremarkable blotch on the ground, he tried to remember...

_A small crowd, resembling __the sea awoken by a raging gale, __gathered round the stairs in front of the Baticul castle__. It swayed, threatening to overflow the__ staircase, angry demands were heard - "Release the replicas!", "Let them live among us!" - and fists occasionally rose in the air when the speakers rallied the timid, silent participants, inspiring them with courage. Asch stood a bit to the side, hidden safely behind the backs of the protesters, but he saw her first and froze in disbelief. Then the people noticed her as well and confusion spread among them. Her mere presence tamed the outrageous and soothed the fearful. Once, in Baticul, she addressed an angry mob under similar circumstances, when replicas have just flooded the streets out of nowhere, but then she was like butterfly with bright wings, struggling to climb out of the cocoon. Now the butterfly was free. _

_It was the first time Asch had seen Natalia since their parting after the battle of Eldrant._

_Fearless, she stood on the first step, her light dress fluttering behind her in the wind, as she outstretched her arms forward – pleadingly, commandingly – and spoke in a clear, youthful voice, the very voice he held dearest of all. _

"_People of Kimlasca! You trusted me before and I fulfilled my promise. You can trust me again when I say that the replicas are not prisoners with us, we are not holding them against their will, but we cannot let them go. They are like children! Can you imagine allowing your little sons and daughters walk the streets of Baticul? Can you imagine asking your little sons and daughters to fend for themselves? The replicas – no, those people, who are just like us – they might look like adults, however, they do not know simplest things; some cannot read or write, others cannot even talk or take care of themselves. They are our responsibility. We must guide them until they are capable of walking a path of their choosing."_

_Her voice flowed smoothly, like a song, it would vanish and then resume, with strength, with conviction, triumphant and charming, as she continued to talk to the crowd patiently, as if they were her children or siblings. _

"_People of Kimlasca! You placed your trust in me many times and have I failed you even once? Worry yourself not over their fate. We will not let those people be harmed in any way. Now I am asking you to go home. If members of your family have been by chance replicated, we will allow you to visit them, otherwise be patient and believe me when I say that we are doing everything in our power to help them..."_

_Asch wanted to remain unnoticed – he didn't come to Baticul to meet Natalia – but lies he was used to telling to himself restrained him rather feebly. He pushed through the crowd until he stood in the second row, hidden behind a broad back of a worker, and there he persisted to stand, absent of resolve which seemed tangible but a moment ago. However, when the gathering began to disperse, Natalia hailed him._

"_Asch... Why are you here?"_

"_Orders from Jade," he answered, following the princess into the garden. She stopped by the fountain, leaning on the thin handrail with an expression hopeful and intent, awaiting him to elaborate. The wind ruffled her hair which grew a bit longer than he remembered and there was wistfulness in her gaze which he didn't remember at all. _

"_Is that all you're going to say? After Van's death, after Luke's death, after the world had finally awoken, weak from fever yet free from the disease of the Score, is that all you can tell me?"_

"_What do you want me to say? That I have finally decided to return – is that what you want to hear? Give it up, Natalia."_

"_Give up what, Asch? You ask me to give up hope. You know that I'll never do that! I can't! During those seven years I came to your room every day... it was Luke's room, but I thought it was yours... and I taught him how to read and write, even when he yelled at me, when he cried and pushed me away, I still came, hoping he would one day remember my name... and my face... and then a promise he made me. It was your promise, but I didn't know that... I spent seven years, hoping. I can spend another seven years, hoping, just fine, you know."_

"_It's stupid... to wait that long for a ghost to come to life."_

"_Then why did you come here? Jade might have sent you to Baticul, but he didn't ask you to visit my castle and listen to my speech. You could have walked away before I even noticed you, but you didn't. Something always calls you back... That's my hope."_

_Asch wanted to walk away on an impulse, a rather irrational, cruel impulse - it would be cruel to take away her hope in a manner his was taken from him - but he wavered, searching for a reason he no longer had, barring his own reflection in the troubled water. Those lacerations were still very tangible, but the reason he clung to vanished and thawed with her voice and the flutter of her dress in the wind. _

"_I'll stay just a little while longer."_

_Natalia immediately proceeded with a story about new developments in Baticul, about her concerns with father's health ('The crisis with the Score had taken its toll,' she said), about Luke's journal which was missing, about many things..._

No, that wasn't what he should be remembering – of that Asch was certain. No matter how pleasant was the recollection, Natalia wasn't with him then. Clutching his head again, he strained his memory, but it was empty – sadness tainted his reminiscences, anger, madness, and blood – and he was certain he was calling the _wrong_ memories to life. What he needed to see happened sometime shortly after they killed Van, after he released Lorelei, in that indistinguishable moment he thought he would disappear...

_...Instead... instead, Asch saw Guy's face. "You said you were going to disappear and yet, here you are!" He __raised his voice and shook his shoulder. "Did you lie to us? Did you deceive us so that we would not save that idiot, believing we could not save him... that idiot who was my friend?"_

"_Guy! Don't say such horrible things!"_

_There were selenias around him, swaying in the wind, shaking their white hoary heads, and he felt dizzy looking at them, looking at the sky and the fon belt beyond his reach. What happened? How did he get here?.._

A cold drop fell onto his forehead and Asch stirred. Sitting there in a futile attempt to recall _something_, he failed to notice when dark clouds covered the sky and it began to drizzle. He jumped off the branch and hurried to the Albiore as the patter of droplets against the leaves grew louder.

...Drenched to the skin, Asch returned to Engeve and went directly to Cantabile's room. A strange thought occurred to him in the Albiore. Perhaps, his efforts weren't futile although the thought which occurred to him was just odd. He flung open the wooden door, which creaked sorrowfully in protest to such unceremonious treatment, and directed his accusation at the woman who menacingly stood by the window as the storm raged behind the thin glass in full force.

"Why were you lying to me? Answer me, Cantabile!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Van wanted me for my hyperresonance. Did you think, with you, I would be as gullible? I didn't believe a word you said, rightfully so, because no one from the Order of Lorelei is capable of speaking the truth..." Slowly, he unsheathed his sword. "Now, tell me, why you are really here. That emblem on your cloak, I didn't notice it before. And then your knights... You're no longer a division commander after every single God General died or defected. They made you a Commandant! Last I heard, both maestro Tritheim and Theodoro were against appointing another Grand Maestro in Mohs's stead, out of fear that he or she would use that position for personal gain as Mohs did. I'm not as dense as you think!"

"Humor me, what's so significant in your conjectures which are common knowledge for every low-ranking knight or Cantor?" Lightning struck behind the window, illumining her dark silhouette and the eye patch which appeared a gaping hole on her face.

"Then why did you blabber about some trust while you failed to mention that you're a Commandant now, like Van? You weren't sent here, were you? There is no one of high enough rank to send you so you came of your own accord. And if you came of your own accord, there is something in this village which concerns you personally and it isn't the murder of some villagers. That's just a convenient pretext."

"What if I said Fon Master Florian sent me?"

"How convenient, too!" Asch pursed his lips. "You put the blame for your blunder on the shoulders of a child and a replica! You, people, are unbelievable."

"That's the Order's business."

"Not anymore!"

Asch raised his arm, opening his fon slots to gather the fourth fonons (since there wasn't a shortage of those during the storm), and unleashed a hail of glistening icicles which should have buried Cantabile, but she was not a novice in battle. Dodging a few sharp, as a needle, creations of ice, she shielded her face with her sleeve and jumped out of the window, landing rather gracefully in the mud. Asch rushed forward, swinging his sword, but Catabile already raised her weapon in defense. The pain of collision echoed through his body and he took a step back, but only briefly, engaging her at once under the heavy torrent. Splashing mud, in rare streaks of lightning, they exchanged a few thunderous blows; each one would have been deadly for a weaker opponent, but neither even flinched. Asch circled her to the right, attempting to find or create an opening with a masterfully performed feint, but she anticipated he would use her blind eye to his advantage and adroitly dodged his arte. Then she responded with a complicated technique of her own. Pushing herself off the ground with both feet, she dove towards him, landed on one knee and thrust her sword backwards. Asch whirled on his heels, parrying the thrust, they met and moved apart and froze at a distance from each other.

"You parried... that..." there was genuine astonishment in Cantabile's voice.

"You trained me, remember?" He spat out, wiping rainwater off his forehead so that it would not drip into his eyes and obscure his vision. The unruly mop of wet hair lay heavily on his shoulders.

"All right, I'll tell you why I came here. There is no need to raise your sword against me," she slid her weapon into the scabbard and turned her back to him, knowing he would not pursue his attack. The commotion attracted a throng of idlers, but she quickly drove them away with a few powerful and plausible threats. "Come with me."

He followed her into the hallway where she wrung her gloves and her surcoat, hanging them neatly side by side outside her room on a stretcher. Asch morosely watched her, having outstretched his legs towards the fire but otherwise refusing to take off his soaked clothes although by then everything he wore clung to him and squelched when he moved.

"You're insufferable and impatient, Asch. If you were under my command, I'd punish you severely for your insolence."

"I owe nothing to the Order, politeness least of all. That madman Van is the reason I am here in the first place."

"Perhaps, you are right, but you shouldn't have attacked me. I would have told you everything in due time, but now you leave me no choice. I am not '_that madman Van_'. I am not your enemy and it's... sad you perceived me as one." She seated herself across from him and ruffled her wet hair with one hand.

"What can you tell me about these bizarre murders?"

"Unfortunately, I know nothing. You are right, I came here of my own accord and stayed under a convenient pretext. My investigation, of all places, led me to Engeve... in vain, I must admit, but I could not abandon villagers in this predicament. Not every member of the Order is a madman."

"But you were investigating... _something_..."

"Murders aside, I was investigating a theft. A month ago someone stole important documents from the library in Daath. As my involvement implies, the theft occurred in the part of the library, which is not accessible to the public, but in one of the nine hidden libraries where the Order keeps its secrets, dating back to the Dawn Age. The Closed Score was but one of them... But I digress. We aren't even certain what is missing because whoever stole it messed up the archives. They must have been planning it for a long time."

"Why did you come to Engeve?"

"The thief was presumed to have stayed here for a short while... a week, maybe. Then the bizarre murders began, but I think I was too late. The thief is no longer here. I will be leaving in a day or two."

"So that good speech about aiding the villagers was all for nothing? I'll help you look for the thief under the condition that you will stay here and solve these murders."

"That's a steep condition. My advantage was always my ability to move freely."

"Think about it, Cantabile. Where would that thief go from here? If he was coming from Daath, he could have headed to Kaitzur, but instead he went to Engeve. From here, he can go to St. Binah or to Grand Chokmah and how much money do you want to bet that he went to Grand Chokmah where I have some influence?"

"Only one of us has to stay. I will be leaving in a day or two and that's my final decision."

...In the morning, however, Asch received an urgent letter from Jade with a request to return to the capital (because a similar incident occurred there) and reluctantly Cantabile stayed in Engeve after he gave her another promise that he would look for the strange book thief.


	4. An exceptional replica

**Chapter III. An exceptional replica **

Peony reclined in his favorite armchair, his legs outstretched onto the velvet cushion near which the rappigs were playing, nuzzling at his toes, and his expression indicative of profound boredom which he could not maintain only when he spoke to his beloved pets in soft murmur. In one hand he held a book, a heap of papers in the other and a bowl of cherries stood on the low stool by his side, as if he wanted to create for himself as many distractions as it was humanly possible. In other words, in Jade's eyes the Emperor was a picture of glaring ___unproductiveness_ (if such word did not exist, it should by all means exist because it suited to describe the moment better than any other word Jade knew, even better than _buffoonery _because Peony at least tried to pretend he was seriously pondering over some affairs of the state). He was invited to drink tea with the Emperor, but tea seemed to be the subject which concerned him least of all. The Emperor was bored and Jade had to fulfill his role to brighten his day and, casually, so to speak, give him a useful advice or two. And there were days when he enjoyed the role just as there were days when he would rather be anywhere but in one room with the... (Emperor, Jade corrected himself, taking a sip from a teacup of expensive porcelain decorated with a fanciful emblem of Malkuth Empire, for any other thought led to the creation of even more disastrous distractions).

"Jade..." Suddenly said the Emperor, waving a book at him which he still held in one hand. "No, I didn't call you, sweet, little Jade, I addressed the other Jade... It's marvelous how they learned to recognize their names, don't you think? This rappig I named after you because he was quick on the uptake. I gave him a name and in a few hours he seemed to respond to it... and the maids loved it."

"Ah, Your Majesty, I've heard about it numerous times and I told you twice as many times that I fail to see any resemblance between myself and your... _pet_..." Jade put the teacup onto the table with a deliberately loud clang. "My patience is wearing thin and one day I will roast them with my most powerful fonic arte."

"You'll ruin my private chambers."

"There is nothing I can do to worsen the untidiness of your private chambers, Your Majesty. You have dirty cushions scattered on the floor and junk piling up in the corners and you furniture has not been dusted since the Dawn Age. A few scorched marks here and there will only impart to your surroundings a strange appeal of a... hm, honorable battlefield."

"Aren't you at least a bit concerned with my health?"

"You'll be just fine. Remember that I had you marked a long time ago... it was a wise decision, in hindsight, if we had to fight side by side and I couldn't hold back, although then my motivation was rather... dubious."

Peony's eyes sparked with mirth. He leaned forward, picking the ripest cherry from the bowl, wherefore he had to release either the papers or the book and he chose to let go of the book which landed onto a sleeping rappig, startling it (the _cute, __little_ Jade) awake. With a loud oink it fell off a cushion, overturned the bowl of cherries, which rolled on the floor, and it happily chased after them.

"My, my, Your Majesty, what a mess," remarked Jade.

"Don't change the subject... You said you left a protective mark on me when we were children. Man, I knew you had a soft spot! Don't try to deny it, Jade. Even when we were kids and you were creepily obsessed with fonic artes, even then you liked me."

"I am afraid, my reasons were more prosaic than worry about the safety of your Imperial Majesty. Do you remember I talked you into accompanying me to the mountains and we walked into the ambush of wild monsters?"

"Yes, I remember that adventure. You conjured some sort of a cage around me and for a moment I felt very hot, but when I opened my eyes, the monsters were dead. Those were some fun times. But I always knew I could rely on you."

"I planned it so that we would walk into that ambush. When I used the arte, I did not know whether the mark I placed on you would work or you'd perish alongside those monsters. But I wanted to test my craftsmanship and prove my uncanny prowess..."

"You're a cruel, insufferable man! How many times have you heard those words?"

"Probably more times than I reminded you that there is no resemblance between myself and that lazy sponger who is eating your cherries... But before we got sidetracked by this _fascinating_ subject of your rappigs, there was something you wanted to ask of me. I am very certain of it."

"Was I going to ask something of you? Ah..." Peony absentmindedly scratched his head; then, as if having remembered about proper manners, he set his tunic straight and drew himself up to full height. "I wanted you to look at these sketches and designs and tell me what you think. The Council will review them later, but you'll be the one to actually operate one of these newer landships and not the Council. As you see," he unrolled a few drawings on the table top, "these are competitive designs for a smaller landship, not unlike _Tartarus_, but... smaller. We cannot afford to build these gigantic machines anymore so I had our engineers think of some clever ways to compensate for size. This model here is equipped with a powerful fonic-ray cannon... powerful for its size, of course..."

"You should have asked Gailardia. Fontech is not my preference."

"Neither is it mine, but I'll ask him later. I need your opinion because you have extensive battle experience... So what do you think? There is a model with a powerful canon and there is a very light-armored quick model and another quick model with three canons on the starboard and a slow ship with armored sides..."

"Hm, the light-armored quick landship is of no use to the army. Perhaps, you can give it to the intelligence division, I bet Sesemann will be happy. Nordheim won't be happy until you order an abundance of slow, heavy-armored ships, but his methods lack finesse. He isn't exactly renowned for his intelligent decisions. You'll need variety to create a balanced fleet, so order the engineers to assemble a few of each kind... I wonder why you even had doubts."

"Of course, I have doubts! Every ruler has 'em," Peony gave him a gentle tap on the shoulder. "How else can you satisfy the people, the Councilors and even that boring old man, Sesemann? They give me a lot of trouble."

"It happens if you are too benevolent, Your Majesty. People become ungrateful." Jade drained his teacup and reached for the jug when a maid entered the room. She delivered a note from Asch, informing him of his arrival. "It's about time," he proclaimed and bade farewells to the Emperor in haste. Peony bent his brows, but over the years he grew accustomed to Jade's sudden departures, gentle allusions in words or decisions devoid of explanation.

Asch stood by the column in the entrance hall of the palace, among the sea of blue floor carpets and tapestries of matching hues, which even on the hottest day created an illusion of cool. A charming young man Asch could have been, of good upbringing and education, leading a life of pleasure, with intentions quite innocent and noble, but instead of charm and elegance, there was abject misery in his pose, in the air of haughty impregnability he assumed, in his immovable face, as though etched of stone to guard the secrets of a bleeding heart and that sheer misery left such a strong imprint on him that he hardly changed, carrying his martyrdom not with humbleness, but with arrogance and anger, as if with each moment he lived, with each breath he took, with each word he spoke and bitter smile he smiled, he avenged himself for everything that was forcibly taken from him. And, perhaps, the irony was that he would be a greater king now than when he was a young man, leading a life of pleasure, with innocuous intentions but absent of awareness and gratitude for the luxuries and power he had been bestowed with by fate.

Jade had watched him for three years after the fall of Eldrant. It was an opportunity to see another side of the story which he inadvertently began with his dangerous experiments and it piqued his natural curiosity, but out of respect, he became a silent observer, not an intrusive one. Asch never talked much, but most of what happened Jade was capable of deducing on his own – rejected and torn, he could neither reconcile with the people who were once dear to him, nor tear himself away from them utterly and irreversibly. They were similar, in their own way, or at least the person Jade had been before Peony made a definitive appearance in his life and the person Asch had become after Luke's birth (creation), each chasing after illusory ghosts from the past – illusory, indeed, but willed into existence by the sheer strength of imagination and will – and each a prisoner in a cage of his own elaborate design, which with time grew into something more real and more significant than the circumstances surrounding its creation. Therefore Jade did not mind his half-passive role in Asch's life. In fact, he didn't mind it at all.

Those thoughts flashed through the Necromancer's mind, but he approached Asch with a pleasant smile on his lips.

"We're going to Baticul," he announced without further ado.

"That's an abrupt decision. Care to elaborate?"

"I didn't specify the capital in the letter, did I? I can't blame you for misunderstanding, but I had to be careful. We're going to Baticul because this is where the incident occurred... and because Princess Natalia asked for our... or should I say, _your_ assistance? Her father had suddenly fallen ill."

Asch clenched his fists. "Why didn't you say so?! Ah... no matter." He turned aside. "I won't ask unnecessary questions, don't worry."

"Ask them if you must. It isn't some elaborate design to keep you in the dark... although in the past you've kept us in the dark on many occasions," Jade couldn't refrain from a sarcastic remark. "I need to speak to Dist who, as you know, has been transferred to the Kimlascan capital prison a year ago. I sensed hesitation on the Emperor's part about keeping our childhood... acquaintance imprisoned for much longer and took the necessary precautions. His Majesty is... too soft sometimes." Asch nodded his head. "How was your investigation?"

"Brief. But I don't like what I saw. When nothing makes sense, I remember chasing after Van, trying to figure out what he had conceived in his mind. I also met... someone from the Order there," he sustained a meaningful pause. "It looks grim because I do not believe in coincidences."

"Dear me, you're quite the pessimist."

"It comes with being born..." there was a strange expression on his face, as if he was reminded of something painful, and his lips quivered, twisting into an _almost smile_, absent-minded and distant. "...with being born a tertiary heir to the throne, then having it all taken from you only to find out that it was never yours to begin with and you were a sacrificial lamb to a stupid tradition and feeble minds who adhered to it. And then..." he fell silent abruptly. "I need to take care of some things before we depart. I'll be ready in a few hours."

"I'll inform the Emperor," Jade waved his arm. "And don't worry, we won't be making this journey on foot. A ship will be waiting for us in the harbor after sundown. Be there."

**~o~**

The building allocated for the rehabilitation institute was dwarfed by the Malkuth military quarters and it couldn't be considered an architectural marvel by any means, but it was nevertheless easily noticeable from the distance. It was built from brown brick and created a stark dissonance with its surroundings. There were small balconies of odd shape protruding forward on the second and third floors and the bronze lattice of rather intricate design barred the way to the main doors, which were guarded by two soldiers. They saluted Asch and let him in. Inside, the building resembled a thin rectangle, girting a small garden with a fountain where replicas often spent their free time, but the fountain was dead on that day of the week and the garden empty. It was decided by the magistrate of Grand Chokmah that without the Planetary Storm, the fountains would be turned off on certain days of the week. So they sometimes stood, hollow, ordinary monoliths, which ceased to sing their song, and it would suddenly become unnaturally quiet in the streets of the capital.

Asch was going to investigate the theft and for that he first and foremost needed to find the present whereabouts of the Dark Wings because if anyone would know about a grand theft, it would be Noir and her cronies, however, even the slightest mention of Natalia's father falling ill diverted his attention from the original goal. Of course, it wasn't due to any of the King's merits (Asch was either indifferent or outright inimical towards his former _uncle_), but he loathed a thought that if the old man finally decided to die, Natalia wouldn't only grieve alone, but ascend the Kimlascan throne by herself, which they once intended to accomplish together. He would want to be there even if to watch the coronation from sidelines, to reward her unwavering loyalty to him. And loyalty was hard to come by these days, he concluded, seeing that he was rejected by his servants, friends and family – everyone rejected him in the end, except her and mother (but mother didn't try hard enough, not a bit enough to amount to his grandiose effort to return to her, only to be turned away at the gate, filthy, famished, fatigued). Even mother came to love his replica more than she ever loved him. Loyalty and love, those two treasures, he would never take for granted again.

Therefore Asch chose to visit doctor Mengde instead for the routine exam. Somehow he trusted that exceptional replica, who wasn't even a replica in the absence of the original, with such an important task as performing exams on his body every month. He had resolved to sacrifice himself once, to dispel the thick vapors of miasma, but afterwards, he developed a bit of an obsession with his health. It was a pity he could only trust a replica, a replica with exceptional talents, but still childishly naïve, to be utterly honest with him about his condition.

"There is nothing wrong with your body and your blood fonons are in perfect balance," doctor Mengde announced his verdict, one Asch had consistently heard for the last three years, and wrote something on a piece of paper. "Don't worry about anything, Colonel Fabre," he added with a bright smile.

He often smiled, for or without a reason, since he seemed to be just fond of smiling, but Asch got used to his eccentric manners and therefore he wasn't surprised when the doctor, humming something and still smiling, dug through the pile of papers on his desk. Asch slipped into a coat, pulled in a belt and threw a glance over the doctor's shoulder before bending over to tie his boots.

"What are you working on?" He asked.

"I've had a couple ideas," the doctor replied enthusiastically. "But I need an expert in fontech to discuss it with. This amplifier, for example... it may work, but it won't be too effective or stable unless I find a good design. They recently developed a new alloy from the ore they began excavating near Akzeriuth again, stubborn as they are... what happened at Akzeriuth was tragic."

"I might know more about it than you think."

"That's not my concern, Colonel Fabre," he said with dignity. "My concern is to develop new ways to compensate, technologically, for the Planet Storm, at least on a micro level of our every day lives so that no one would dismiss my brethren as useless, although some of them can make only bird feeders. That is also tragic. Did you see that girl they found living in the wild two years ago? I had tears in my eyes when she made her first bird feeder..."

"She's a replica, what do you expect? They're not... normal, they won't ever be. Even you... you're different, too, although who am I to say anything?"

Tears welled up in the doctor's eyes, but he smiled that stupid, innocent smile, which caused Asch much irritation in the past until he learned to pay it no mind. Doctor Mengde had many talents, but he had no experience in life and Asch learned not to expect much of him in that regard.

"You're right, who are we to say anything?.. But I've been working on this design day and night... I proposed we used different materials to trap the flow of fonons and amplify it."

"Then why don't you add an isofon here for an isofon-induced resonance?" Asch asked without much deliberation. "If it's not too much trouble to replicate that layer of material and it's not too dangerous an undertaking... Actually, forget I said it."

"An isofon..."

"It was a stupid idea. Forget about it."

At that moment the door was opened and Guy shoved through the chink. An uneasy silence settled over the room, that sort of awkward, heavy silence when two people meet who, out of mutual dislike, avoided each other until one day a coincidence brought them together. They exchanged cold greetings and suddenly there was nothing to say. Asch wanted to ask doctor Mengde more questions, but he wouldn't get anywhere with Guy in the same room. Guy had questions to which he did not know an answer and Asch found it infuriating to have to explain to him that he did not deliberately set anyone up. He did not want to discuss the subject of his replica with anyone, but it wouldn't be as frustrating a subject if he didn't have to come up with excuses to justify himself. It was all clear to him, more or less, Luke was dead before he even thought of acknowledging his use and worth, and he was left to live his life, as though... (as though nothing had ever happened, but it was a lie, blatant lie, and Guy was the living proof of that).

And so Asch left and did not look back (even at doctor Mengde who with unconcealed curiosity gazed at both of them).


	5. Memento vivere

**Chapter IV. Memento vivere**

_...He was running, expelling air from his burning lungs, and each slash of his sword left a dead body on the ground – he was swift, precise, deadly... useless. The air around him was of purplish color, thick, viscid, it clung to him and the faster he ran, the harder he struggled, the more futile were his pitiful endeavors._

"_Don't go any further, idiot! If you continue what you're doing, you'll regret it!"_

_If Asch could order him will every bit of will he had to walk away or bind him, hold him in place somehow, or crush that idiotic idea in his mind that he strove to be a hero and impart to him the terrible truth that he was a replica and a sacrificial lamb in his stead, then thousands of people would live, but the air around him was so thick now that he could not move. He was choking._

"_You're being deceived! If you go any further, you will destroy Akzeriuth!.."_

_...He was running, raising thin clouds of dust, and somewhere in the back of his mind there was a thought that Pere did not sweep the pathway properly, however, it was of utmost importance that he overtook Natalia who was running away, teasing him, "Too slow! You can't catch me!" and in his small world, which suddenly grew even smaller, there existed no other matter which could preoccupy him so. She was far ahead of him, her dress fluttering in the wind, and he stopped dead, picked up a clod of dirt from the ground, wet from the morning dew, and hurled it at her. It hit her in the back, smeared the pretty dress, but she did not cry; instead, in a manner unbefitting a princess, she in turn threw dirt at him..._

...Asch sat up on the bunk, awoken abruptly out of uneasy slumber by the clatter of heavy boots in the corridor and a loud horn of the ship, and for a heartbeat he couldn't decide where he was or whether he was still dreaming. Overcame with confusion, he got on his feet, but the floor underneath him lurched and he was flung across the narrow room. His elbow hit a metal jut and he exclaimed, "Damn it!" so loudly that Jade, who was sitting at the table in the corner, glanced at him with disapproval.

"Please, be more careful, Asch," he said in a didactic tone which Asch often found to be spurious and obnoxious. "We wouldn't want you to appear at the reception with broken bones and bruises, would we? Princess Natalia would be very disappointed."

Asch dropped into the chair without as much as an attempt to straighten his uniform. "Do you ever sleep?"

"If I must, to replenish my body's strength, but otherwise it's a waste of time I can spend thinking. Besides, I sleep lightly and you toss and turn on your bed constantly. Are you having nightmares?"

"And what are you so suddenly concerned with? They're just dreams. You often say that any effort to change what has been done is futile and all that's left for us is acceptance, cold, unconcerned, unrepentant acceptance... I don't have to like it, but your argument was rather convincing, so I... accepted."

"I don't mean to pry, but you were talking in your sleep- "

"W-was I talking in my sleep?.. What did I say?!"

"Calm down, you didn't spill any state secrets, otherwise I would have to kill you."

"Tch... Is that your idea of a joke?" With an expression indicative of genuine amusement, Asch leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms on his chest. "I bet five thousand gald in my pocket that in your nightmares you see but images of the Emperor's rappigs."

"Gambling is not a healthy habit for a soldier who is already venturing his life for a cause." Jade scrutinized him from above the rim of his glasses and under his intent stare, even Asch felt a bit uncomfortable. "It was Akzeriuth, wasn't it?"

"How did you- "

"You're talking in your sleep."

"You have a strange idea of _not prying_... You seem concerned, so to say, with my dreams, but you've never asked whom I met in Engeve."

"Every respectable man has a secret or two," Jade glanced out of the round window and rose. "Regrettably, we have to end our little chat for now. We're approaching Baticul's port... Let's see what fate has in store for us this time."

Asch shrugged his shoulders and without enthusiasm dragged himself after the General. A man waited for them on the pier and after he introduced himself as a representative of the magistrate and they exchanged (unpleasantly polite) greetings, he escorted them towards the aerial tramway where they boarded an empty car. Creaking, it began its slow, monotonous ascent towards the central plaza and only then did Jade address their rather disagreeable companion.

"You can be upfront with us, Mr. Aston. We are here at the behest of Princess Natalia herself. Tell us what happened."

"Why would the princess send someone from Malkuth?" Grunting, said the small, stout man of unremarkable, unkempt appearance and disposition of a trader, whose name was as unremarkable as his appearance and voice as unpleasant as his character. "Ah, my apologies, nobody wants to hear me vent a grievance... The situation has been contained for a week, we allowed no rumors to be spread because we wish to protect the governor's young daughter... the governor of Baticul, of course... His daughter is ill, but it's not the usual sickness, none a doctor can cure with medicine. Healing artes did not help her either although those Seventh Fonists we invited were powerless charlatans, so we requested someone with considerable experience... She tried to take her own life and now... you'll see for yourself."

"And how can an experienced fonist... or two experienced fonists aid you, might I ask?"

"There is an awful rumor floating about that the miasma appeared again. We think..."

Asch laughed loudly, earning an exasperated glance from their guide. "Whoever said it is a blithering idiot, I assure you," added Jade. "The solution which was implemented allows me to say with certainty that we are not dealing with the side effects of the miasma." Their guide assumed an air of outraged innocence and, since Asch decided he wouldn't deign debating him, they continued rapidly to their destination in silence.

Asch couldn't say he liked Baticul, with its narrow winding streets, dirty dens, intricate cobwebs of aircars, elevators and more winding, sultry streets, over which hung clouds of dust, odors of rotting fish and aromas of fresh summer flowers, an indescribable blend, like the city itself – a blend of filth, baseness and majestic beauty of thin towers and marble buildings, boldly rising heavenwards; rising, but always falling short of their destination. And yet Asch couldn't say he disliked Baticul, a place he once knew as the back of his hand and a place he once called home, a place where ghosts of his memories still dwelt, stubbornly (as he himself was stubborn), reminding him of the times he went out with his mother to a store or the times his father scolded him for sneaking into the elevator maintenance shaft (he was a child curious about the world outside the castle), or even that one time he stood with Natalia on the edge of the precipice, looking at the vague contours of the shabby houses below, in the poor district, hidden from their sight by thick brown smoke from the factory chimneys. Sometimes he wondered how he would feel if he were Luke, without the memories or even ghosts of memories, which he could not banish, only reject.

They crossed a plaza above the coliseum and took an elevator to the next level where only rich people lived, various officials, military officers and the governor himself. The royal family and nobles lived only one level above them. A cheerful maid opened a door of fine wood before them and invited them inside, into a dim room with a large writing table whereat, sitting in an armchair of dark-green velvet, the governor himself awaited their arrival.

"Ah, Aston, it's about time you brought our esteemed guests... Colonel Curtiss, was it? No, General Curtiss now, if I recall correctly. I was anticipating your arrival with great excitement."

"Mr. Aston informed us of the delicate nature of your situation. Where is the girl?"

"Right this way, General and..." The governor paused, staring at Asch with uncertainty and disbelief.

"This is my assistant, Colonel Fabre," said Jade.

"Fabre? You mean... Luke fon Fabre, Duke Fabre's son who disappeared after the events- "

"I'm Asch," he interjected sharply. He wanted to add that he wasn't anyone's assistant, too, but decided it wasn't worth his time to argue a point, since in all fairness, he was Jade's assistant albeit in name only.

The governor cast a scowling glance at him and opened a door into the private chambers behind his study where his daughter lay bedridden for a whole week, into the room even dimmer and hotter than his own, with closed shutters to ward off sunlight and sounds of boisterous life; a room like prison, Asch thought. He approached the bed and peered into the pale, exhausted face of a little girl with urgency and impatience. He wanted to see Natalia, he awaited that meeting with joy and dreaded it somewhat (although what did he have to fear? It was an absurd thought) therefore he didn't have time to solve these riddles.

"A minister of Domestic Affairs invited his personal doctor to help us," meanwhile continued the governor, "but he happened to know nothing about this particular condition. A charlatan, I say. It's terribly hard to find a good doctor nowadays."

"If you were familiar with the Planet Storm theory, then you'd understand why," prompted by that mysterious impatience, said Asch. "Free fonons are still attracted by the gravity and gather near the Planet's fon slots, however, there aren't as many of them altogether. It's harder to cast fonic artes and experienced, talented fonists have always been rare. A novice healer will probably heal a bruise or a cut, but her condition is serious."

It was serious indeed. The girl lay prostrate on the bed without moving, her breathing was shallow, her eyes sunk and if her chest didn't heave and her eyelashes didn't flutter, she would appear dead.

"I remember we were taught that theory in school, but it was a long time ago."

"It's not that hard to understand." Asch tiptoed to glance over Jade's shoulder at the fonic glyph he masterfully drew and sunk back on his heels. If anyone could help that wretched soul, it was the Necromancer. "The Planet Storm was created artificially. That's why," he turned to Aston, "her condition could not have been caused by the effects of the miasma."

"B-but... I don't know... what if something else... how should I know, after all?" Their guide was sweating profusely as he observed Jade's masterful manipulation of fonons and his tense countenance betrayed fear and worry – but what did he fear? It appeared to Asch that he was guilty of... _something_.

"There is nothing else. The miasma won't appear unless you activate the Planet Storm again and use too much of the Planet's fuel too fast. Your theory is wacky and I wonder why you seem so eager to convince everyone of your rightness."

"But there must be something you can do for my daughter..." Chimed in the governor.

Jade raised his arm, calling everyone to silence. "Asch, does her condition seem similar to you? Have you observed it in Engeve?"

"No, I haven't. It was the exact opposite. The children there were rumored to be violent and unstable."

"Unstable... I see."

"General Curtiss, I beg you! If there is anything you know, tell me!" The governor's voice shook and he was trembling all over.

"Well, I figured out what happened to your daughter although this incident doesn't seem to be connected with the incidents in Engeve. She is lethargic. It's a rare medical condition, which can happen on its own, but you mentioned she tried to take her life before that... there is only one condition I know of which can cause both mental instability and lethargy. It's called contamination effect and you're fortunate to have invited me because I studied it extensively in the past."

Contamination effect. How Asch loathed the word! It used to hang above his head, the constant threat of death, which could come any day, any hour, unseen, unrepentant, invincible. And his replica was supposed to take away everything from him, even his strength, crippling him, leaving him with but cold acceptance of his fate until...

It was fate, Jade later explained to him, fate all living isofons shared, but the explanation never satisfied him. It was the Necromancer's theory, not his.

"Was my daughter poisoned? Oh, Yulia Jue..."

"She was... in a way. It is impossible to determine how it happened, but her body was not built to withstand the unnatural fusion with fonons of an object, I presume. Some unknown inanimate object... It is a dangerous procedure for an inexperienced fonist to perform, but I can fuse and separate my weapon from my right arm at will. It's... convenient."

"Can it cause mental instability?"

"Most likely, that is the cause."

"Does it mean you can separate those intrusive fonons from her body?"

Something was awfully wrong, but Asch could not quite understand what created such an impression on him.

"I've never performed such a difficult procedure on anyone but myself and even then I knew what object I was fusing with my body. It's a procedure that will require preparation. I'll return to you in two days."

...They left after listening to profuse words of gratitude from the governor and promises of generous payment in the event they succeeded. Walking down the winding street with lavish gardens and rich manors on both sides of it, Jade suddenly asked him, "You noticed, didn't you?"

"What was I supposed... Nevermind. I think I know what you mean."

"Good. You can go to princess Natalia now, I am sure she's very eager to see you."

"You're unusually considerate today, Jade."

"What can I say? I need to give you youngsters a break sometimes, don't I? Besides, I need to speak to Dist and you'll just get in my way."

"Remind me to never call you considerate again," Asch replied with a sudden thin smile and quickened his steps towards the elevator.

**~o~**

"Jade! Have you come to visit an old friend after so many months of neglect? Or have you finally come to your senses and realized the gravity of your mistake to imprison me here? Did you bring news of my desired freedom, Jade?"

Through the grating, Dist stared at him with an expression intent and hopeful and almost awed. It was dark in his cell and he sat in an ordinary chair in that darkness, rocking back and forth monotonously and without aim, a pale, morose shadow of a person he once was. It was a pathetic sight.

"Ah, Dist, sorry to break it to you, but my actions have never been guided by the consideration of your well-being," replied Jade. "You owe my presence to a few coincidences which may not be coincidences and this is what I am about to find out from you."

Dist approached the grating, clenching the bars and pressing his face into the unmerciful steel of his prison. "Let me look at you, Jade. You haven't aged one bit, I see. But your uniform... It can't be! Why did you finally accept the promotion?"

"Personal ambition," he gave an unconcerned answer. "Don't you think I finally deserved it?"

"I don't believe you! I don't believe you!" Dist stomped his feet like a petulant child. "It's all about those damn replicas, isn't it? I told you that you couldn't save Luke even if you wanted to. You're not god to defy the laws of nature! He would have disappeared either from the contamination effect, or from fonon separation or..."

There was a time when he hoped Luke would somehow survive, but there were no miracles that day or the next day and the outcome did not relieve him of responsibility to see the story until its end, whichever that end may be, even if Asch wasn't the person who would easily accept assistance of any kind. For both of them, for all replicas Jade accepted that promotion. Sometimes he even thought he understood Saphir who never gave up on replicating Professor Nebilim, knowing that she would not remember Keterburg and the happy years they spent with her, knowing how ethically ambiguous his attempts were – knowing _everything, _but finding no strength within himself to give up hope. However, such blind, irrational hope was beyond him.

"Dist, your judgment has always been impaired by lack of intelligence. I have come to talk to you about many things, but Luke... or Asch certainly aren't among them. It's my nature to be honest."

"Free me from this prison and we'll talk about anything you want. Only get me out of here, you hear me?! And then we can resurrect professor Nebilim together..."

"You'll only get into trouble again and, besides, the knowledge you might possess isn't worth the risk of granting you freedom and forgiveness for your previous transgressions. So tell me, Dist, has anyone visited you here?"

"Why would anyone visit me? I am all alone!"

"There is a girl in Baticul who had suffered from the effects of contamination. She isn't a replica, her fonons should not separate easily, but somehow her body was fused with an inanimate object of unknown nature. Could it be an accident? Hardly. So why would anyone do such a thing? And who?"

"How should I know?"

"Useless... as always."

"What did you say?!" Exclaimed Dist, beside himself with anger, but it was short-lived. "I would tell you if I knew to show you that I've realized the errors in my ways. I want to replicate the professor, but I will never try it again. You see, Jade? I changed!"

"Somehow I don't believe you. A few minutes ago you offered me to pursue that hopeless task with you for an umpteenth time. But, speaking of the professor... of the first replica we created, she was very unstable, wasn't she? How odd..."

"What's so odd about it? I thought we figured out what went wrong in our first experiments."

"It's nothing, Dist." There was a sinister gleam in Jade's eyes. "But if I find out that somebody visited you, if I find out that you shared forbidden knowledge with that somebody or that you're responsible for replicating people again, I will kill you."

**~o~**

Asch knocked at Natalia's window three times and waited, knocked again and, losing patience, pushed open the unwilling wooden frame. It moved back a little and he slipped inside, gently closing it afterwards so as not to reveal how he entered the room. When he was a child, he developed a habit to sneak into Natalia's chambers for fun because there was no entertainment in asking the palace menials to let him in and the locks on those heavy, but old and useless windows hadn't been changed in ten years. Now he was guided by prudence, lacking desire to see familiar people, people who could recognize him and tell his whereabouts to his parents, whom he did not intend to see. He saw mother once, when she had fallen ill from grief, to console her that he was alive, but never again since then.

Natalia sat by the bed, Asch saw her silhouette from where he stood through the door which opened into the hallway, connecting her bedroom and her study, but he didn't reveal himself until she returned to the study with a dress in her hands. She was humming a song, but on seeing him she froze with a startled countenance. She recognized him at once, however, and flashed a smiled at him which in brightness vied with the sunlight streaming into the room through the window.

"Asch?.. I didn't expect to see you so early. It's such a pleasant surprise! Have a seat... there... Now, tell me everything. How you've been, what Jade made you do, what you think about that poor girl... everything."

"N-natalia," he uttered, confused, as she resolutely pushed him towards a chair. "I-I... What about my uncle?"

"How awkward, Asch! I asked you so many questions and you respond with a question, too. Were you... worried about me?"

"N-no, not at all! It's not that, I-I..." He sounded pathetic. Asch obediently lowered himself onto a stool which the princess offered him and looked at the wall decorated with a portrait of Natalia's great grandfather, king Ingobert the Fifth. "I _was_ worried, all right? I know you love your father, regardless of how low I think of him."

"Yes, father had fallen ill, but he felt better this morning so I remain hopeful." Natalia threw a glance at her reflection in the mirror and smoothed out her hair (which was flawless anyhow in his view). "However, he isn't strong enough to attend a formal reception tomorrow, so I will ask you to be by my side. We're celebrating our first breakthrough, after all... Why are you looking at me like that? You didn't know? Jade didn't tell you?"

"I suppose he wanted you to tell me yourself."

"How very modest of him. Without him we wouldn't have advanced so quickly, he dedicated months to researching replica's cognitive abilities and developing new teaching methods... And in just three years, we were able to help the first fifty replicas to rejoin society. They left our rehabilitation facilities three days ago and that celebration is dedicated to commemorating the first milestone on this long road... We have succeeded in proving to the whole world that replicas are human and valuable. New laws are being drafted as we speak, prohibiting discrimination of those people and protecting the originals from any unlawful seizure of property by a replica... They are both different people, but it's a complicated matter... for some. It was for me before... when Luke was still alive. I unfairly wanted him to be you..."

"I don't want to hear about it, Natalia."

"You're right... I'm sorry. It isn't the time to rake over old ashes. It's a happy day and therefore we owe it to him... to all of them to spend it in celebration. Will you accompany me tomorrow? If Jade is going, you simply must attend, I will accept no objections from you. You'll help me deal with guests some of whom you might be interested in meeting. I invited a few scientists from Belkend and Sheridan, pioneers in research of new energy sources, and then we'll dance... It will be marvelous!"

"Dancing? Are you out of your mind? I am not dancing... I haven't danced in ten years!" Asch exclaimed, genuinely appalled by her suggestion.

"Asch, it's not that difficult, you'll just have to remember the movements... which I am sure your body never forgot. If you once learned how to swim or speak another language, you can never truly unlearn those skills... Let's try!"

"Don't be silly. I don't have proper attire to dance with a princess."

"Oh, Asch, I'll find you something to wear, something of Luke's... And I insist. It is my goal to remind you every single time what it means to be alive."

She dragged him by the arm into the middle of the room as he allowed himself to be dragged, and there it was, that smile on her lips, bright as sunshine, pouring through the window, which caused a strange weakness in him... no, strange was the lack of sunshine. As they talked, gloomy clouds covered the sky and onto the hot pavement fell first drops of warm summer rain.

"Fine, I'll dance with you, but you will owe me a favor afterwards. I don't know what kind of favor, I can ask something absurd of you and you will have to promise to comply with it."

"Anything you wish!" She cried out joyously and their hands joined.

He wasn't good for her; she was a princess of Kimlasca and he was an outcast on his own volition. One day, if he found enough resolve to lose her for the third (or was it fourth?) time, he would ask her to leave, but it wouldn't be on that day. On that day he would dance with her, like he was dancing with her now, one step forward, two steps backwards, an awkward twirl (he didn't have any practice for more than ten years), and she would laugh, like she was laughing now (and when she was a child although she wasn't a child anymore)... "Luke, be careful! You stepped on my toe!" She said then, but now she didn't say a word although he was far more awkward, only slowly, timidly lowered her head on his chest and they froze.

There was a moment of painful silence when neither knew what to say or whether anything needed to be said. Natalia broke that silence first. "What did Jade say about that girl, the governor's daughter? Can you help her?"


	6. The Queen

**Chapter V. The Queen**

The candle on the table burnt out and a small fonstone on the ceiling barely emitted light, but it did not occur to Asch to rise and light another lamp. He resolved to sit in the dark until he would fall asleep, unconcerned with where or how he would fall asleep, too accustomed to waking up on the cold ground, in dirt, under the rain, and follow Jade's example by contemplating the events of the day. Natalia insisted he stayed at the inn with the Necromancer, but he refused to accept money from her and paid for the room with gald from his own wallet. He wouldn't have stayed at the palace where he could bump into his parents by chance even if the princess requested otherwise. Asch was beside himself with worry and, perhaps, Natalia rightfully called him a fool for thinking such dismal thoughts, but he couldn't help himself; he couldn't cease to fear that the glimmer of hope he cherished would be extinguished or that she was in danger, real or fictitious, intensified by his imagination, and that fear weighed down upon him because he found it easier not to hope so as not to bear the burden of frustration.

And then there was a matter of Van's legacy which he left after he died on Eldrant. Many people found out that the Score Yulia read was the Score of destruction, not prosperity. Many people were frightened and outraged, and many a day Guy and Jade (and he was with them, too) spent quelling local insurrections and punishing criminals who often happened to be confused people who yesterday tilted the land or baked bread, but who without the guidance of the Score felt helpless (or beholden to no one) and resorted to seedy entertainment, theft and murder. And then they disappeared, the petty criminals, the outraged, the rebellious, and even the confused fools. Asch rarely encountered them, but he refused to believe that they vanished or came to see reason.

Old habits died hard, but only darkness would witness him so torn by an internal strife. Or so he thought when someone knocked on the door and in Natalia's voice (a voice he would recognize among a hundred other voices) said, "Asch, are you there?"

"Of course, I am here," he replied wearily and hurried to let his unexpected guest in.

The princess quickly entered the room, shut the door and pressed a finger to her lips. She wore a green jacket with matching trousers and a dark cloth was wrapped around her head, concealing her features. "Let us speak quietly," she whispered, removing the strange headwear, and pressed both palms to her cheeks. She appeared flustered, anxious and... excited, her eyes shone with determination and she furrowed her brow in a charming manner. "Nobody knows I am here and I want to keep this visit a secret even from father."

"Why the secrecy?" He asked.

"Someone could have overheard us at the palace. Here it's just you and me. I know I can trust you... with my life."

"You are not making a lot of sense, Natalia, but I assume you didn't ask me to come to Baticul to attend a reception with you."

"No, I am not selfish enough to distract you or Jade from the important work you are doing for my own amusement. Don't misunderstand me, I am glad... I am very glad you came and there is nothing I wish more than to forget about my troubles and dance with you tomorrow... But I can't forget." She clasped her hands. "I had to be carefree at the palace and talk about nothing, what you'll wear tomorrow and how we'll dance, because I do not know whom I can trust. When my father fell ill... Who am I fooling? Even before that, his court grew divided in their opinions on the heir to the throne. There are those who believe that I cannot ascend the Kimlascan throne although my father never disowned me. One of them, count Almandine, believes that I should marry Emperor Peony and the new heir should be chosen from the nobility. Others do not insist on sending me away, but they want me to marry a Kimlascan noble and essentially reduce my power. I won't stand for that!"

"Who are they?! Tell me their names!"

"No, Asch, you can't do anything reckless. Promise me, you will be more careful." She took his hand between hers, but let go of it at once and took a step back, as though in fright the gesture would anger him somehow. "I have immense respect for Emperor Peony, but I have no desire to marry him or any other noble they are suggesting I should marry. I may only be a princess because I was adopted into the royal family, but I love my people and they in return give me their support. My father ruled Kimlasca alone after my mother died. I may be a princess and a woman," her eyes flashed fire and she straightened, "but if I choose so, I can rule our kingdom alone, with the support of my people, like my father ruled it before me!"

It was then that it dawned upon him that he had been wrong all along and she was no longer a princess (why did he fail to notice?), she was a... queen, the only queen worthy to sit on the throne of the country where he was born and he would see to it that no scoundrel dared to steal it from her.

"What does Duke Fabre make of it? I cannot imagine he had withdrawn himself from the political intrigues in the court. Whose side is he on? "

"Don't worry about your father. He remains loyal to us. You can trust Brigadier General Cecile, too, and the governor... although I suspect that such tragedy befell his family because he openly approved of my candidacy."

Asch twirled a red lock around his index finger and watched it uncurl and neatly fall on his chest (it never occurred to him to cut his hair, only trim it from time to time). "Jade said as much... without saying anything. But I spent enough time around him to guess what's on his mind. He believes the governor is a victim of foul play. What do you know about his closest entourage, his maids, servants, his business partners? A man who met us, Aston I believe was his name, definitely appeared to be guilty of something. You should have seen his face... Coward."

"Aston, Aston..." Natalia pondered over his words with a deep frown. "I don't know of anyone by that name, but I can remember a detail or two that may be of use to you. The governor of Baticul received his position in accordance with the Score some years before the fall of Eldrant. I heard he had ties with smugglers from Akzeriuth. It was an ongoing investigation then, but he managed to cover up his illegal activities and for that he used that one trading company..."

"Smugglers from Akzeriuth... I had a dream about Akzeriuth the night before."

"Stop it, Asch! You've been obsessing over it far too much," she forgot, in the fit of indignation, her misgivings and raised her voice. "I told you many times that your dreams are not significant beyond being reflections of our sins, reminders that some lessons should not be forgotten and nothing more. Lorelei healed you because you freed it with the aid of Yulia's jewel and sword, the two objects required to make a pact. Lorelei gave you your life back in exchange for its freedom... isn't that enough?"

"I should have died, Natalia," Asch retorted sternly. "There must be a reason why I am still here. If only I could remember those last moments... And if what you say is true and I did make a pact with Lorelei, I have to know what the conditions of that pact were."

"Asch... you haven't changed a bit."

What did she want from him, saying such stupid things? He couldn't understand her and it frustrated him because it seemed an easy matter to understand. "Will Daath interfere?" He asked to change the subject.

"Daath's political influence diminished greatly," Natalia replied with dignity. "They resemble an independent monarchy with an army of knights which protects their interests more than a religious order and a mediator. People no longer revere the Score or its servants."

"And whom do the White Knights support? When I rescued you from Baticul, when the court and Mohs pressured your father into ordering your execution, they remained loyal to you although then your position was shaky. I can't imagine they would change their allegiance unless Goldberg sold it for a price. He's a wretch, forgetting his duty to Kimlascan citizens like that."

"The White Knights are on our side. Their loyalty is unquestionable and therefore I intend to rely on them to arrest count Almandine and charge him with treason for conspiring against the royal family. My only fear is that the discontent in the army may spark an unrest."

"Don't worry about anything. The promise I made you when we were kids was naïve, but never irrelevant... Do what you have to do and don't be afraid to harm father. I don't care."

"But... Asch..."

"I said I didn't care, Natalia! Didn't they call you imposter Meryl once? Tch... What a joke. But this time..." He clenched his fists. This time he would not let them lay a finger on her.

The princess (no, the queen) compressed her lips and nodded her head with a solemn expression on her youthful face, accepting the gravity of his unspoken promise. "Thank you, Asch... I will never forget what you did for me."

**~o~**

In the morning, Asch woke up to discover that a few rather unpleasant surprises were waiting for him. Natalia was to blame for one such unexpectedness. She was preoccupied with the preparations for the upcoming celebration at the palace therefore she sent three maids to his room with the heap of ceremonial garments which belonged to his replica, ordering them to leave only when he would decide on an outfit so that the princess would choose a dress to match it. It was a tedious task because some time had passed since Luke wore them and not a single article of clothes matched him perfectly. The white linen shirt had short sleeves, the breeches were too tight, and the tailcoat didn't suit him (that idiot had very poor taste in clothes). After due deliberation, Asch chose a full-dress uniform which consisted of a dark-blue doublet with a fancy burgundy sash and white trousers. The finishing touch was a belt with a silver clasp.

But no sooner had the irksome maids left than another no less bothersome visitor appeared on the doorstep of his room. How she found him was to Asch inconceivable, since he never kept in touch with Luke's friends, and although he suspected that Natalia exchanged letters with them from time to time, _she_ (his unexpected visitor) shouldn't have known which inn he was staying at.

She had grown from an unconcerned child with a pair of pigtails into a lanky, uncouth girl of sunny disposition. She no longer carried a stuffed puppet with her and in its stead a small elegant rod was attached to her back. Her dark hair was cut neatly, evenly and the haircut made her face unrecognizable, or rather, barely recognizable, because Asch did recall her name after he spent a few moments raking through his memory. When he abandoned the Order, she was known as Cantor Anise Tatlin.

"Oh, Asch, you're as gloomy as ever," she drawled the words when she spoke. "But don't worry, I have not forgotten you. You can assume the position you deserve among the Kimlascan nobles and propose to me anytime!" Asch's face remained an imperturbable mask and her countenance fell. "I was obviously joking, you know, trying to cheer you up. I no longer need a rich suitor. I am the youngest Conductor the Order of Lorelei had seen in almost a hundred years. That counts for something, don't you think?"

"What are you doing in Baticul?"

"That's not the most polite greeting, but I'll take it. Natalia invited me, of course. It's for a good cause. I represent the Fon Master and the Order of Lorelei since the Commandant is... busy and so are the Maestros."

"Cantabile..." Anise reminded him of the promise he gave to the new Commandant, but he didn't have the time to contact the Dark Wings on her behalf. It seemed to him he was always running out of time, running to survive, running from himself, running... always running somewhere. He was so tired...

"I also heard you and the Colonel were here..."

"The General..." Asch absently looked at her. "He received a promotion from the Emperor."

"So the Colonel is a very important man now... not that he wasn't important before. He even has you tagging along with him."

"Enough! You talk a lot of nonsense."

"Some things just don't change, do they?" She shook her head in disappointment. "Have you heard from Tear?"

Natalia knew not to ask futile questions, however, Anise was clueless as per usual and cluelessness never failed to irritate him. Jade's timely appearance eased the tension somewhat and Asch left the tedious task of upholding a lively conversation to him, putting in a remark from time to time, but listening more than talking. At first, it seemed to him that he wouldn't learn anything important, but then Anise mentioned in passing a theft and he requested her to elaborate. She told them that the thief was rumored to have worked for the Order since he seemed to know the intricate labyrinth of the temple like the back of his hand. It was a clean job, not a single guard was injured and a whole day passed before the loss was discovered by a very frightened warden of the archive, Conductor Louis Reig. Asch recognized that name because he heard it often during the years he collaborated with Van, when Louis was still a Cantor, and even then he concluded that the old man had no luck (even less luck than Cantor Reiner who was stuck in an unfavorable position of Dist's assistant). It was then that Asch pricked up his ears and listened to Anise's tale. A preliminary investigation yielded no results. The yegg also knew how the archives were organized and stole that part of the card-register in which were recorded the items in question and their detailed description.

"...We figured out some of the documents pertained to the fon machinery from the Dawn Age," concluded Anise in a conspiratorial voice. "But we also suspect the thief stole one of the newest compilations of discoveries made after we lowered the Outer Lands. Some things we just didn't know before. I'm not allowed to talk about it, but the General... you don't mind if I call you General, do you? I simply cannot refuse you an answer."

"Go ahead, Anise, we're all tried-and-true friends here."

"When you say it like that, General Curtiss..." She raised her index finger and tossed her head, enjoying the moment when everyone's attention was directed to her. "The Order permitted to conduct studies of the two most important relics from the Dawn Age with the goal of discovering an alternative source of energy to combat famine in areas around Saint Binah, Chesedonia and Sheridan... especially, Sheridan. One of those relics is Yulia City. That's common knowledge. And the other... even Anise Tatlin, the youngest and brightest Conductor and Locrean Captain of the Order of Lorelei, cannot help you with that one."

"We could ask Fon Master Florian..."

"He doesn't know anything. He is Ion's... No, if anyone knew, it would be Maestro Tritheim or Teodoro or our illustrious Commandant Cantabile."

"Cantabile..." suddenly said Asch. "I met her in Engeve."

"So that's who it was."

"There was no point in talking about it. I promised her I would find the thief if she stayed to fulfill her duty to protect the villagers. I could have handled it on my own."

"That's not the point, Asch. But we have more pressing problems at the moment and for once we know the name of a culprit. I always take precautions..."

"You mean like that one time when we went to persuade king Ingobert to declare peace and you admitted you were bluffing..."

Jade lifted his hands in dismay, "How perceptive of you, Anise, to remember my tricks. Perhaps, I was bluffing then or, perhaps, I wasn't, but I certainly took precautions this time. At sunrise, I returned to the governor's mansion and found him... a bit less enthusiastic to cooperate with us. Count Almandine was with him. I won't make any guesses, but I think it's safe to say that he doesn't want us to discover what object contaminated his daughter's body."

**~o~**

Asch squinted from the bright light which poured from the myriad of Rem fonstones in the chandeliers and looked for Natalia in the crowd. The ballroom quickly filled with people dressed in posh garments of velvet, satin and silk, decorated with abundance of jewelry; everything around him sparkled, rustled, and coalesced into a single living, breathing entity which moved in time with the melodious song performed by one of the replicas in whose honor the solemn celebration was held. There were laughter and mirth and festivity in the air. At least the nobles were preoccupied, drinking wine, conversing with each other and dancing, otherwise there would be more persistent gazes following him and whispers would be heard from time to time as they would ask one another with tiresome curiosity whether he was the long lost son of Duke Fabre or an audacious impostor or a replica. Those questions disturbed their imagination for in their monotonous lives they had nothing which would worry or excite them more than misfortunes of others.

The room was cut atwain by a strip of dark-blue carpet and on both sides, along the northern and southern walls, stood two rows of chairs for those who wished to rest briefly between dances. Natalia stood on the dark-blue carpet, which resembled a river between the mighty shores, and to her left Asch noticed Julius Lanvaldear, a distant relative of the late queen and the current minister of Domestic Affairs (a fancy title for someone responsible for supervising the magistrates of the large cities, educators, civil servants and, as of lately, replica research), and Duke Fabre to her right. In these unfortunate circumstances he couldn't speak to the princess and so he waited, unseen, by the tapestry with the Kimlascan coat of arms, until his father disappeared in the brilliant crowd.

It was a strange thought that occurred to him the day before, but now this vague impression was stronger than ever that the slender girl (or woman) before him in the light-blue dress was a queen, fearless, determined, merciful, and that she had an inexplicable special fate. How could they not listen to her or plot against her or dream of stealing power from her? How could they not grasp that she would work her whole life, ceaselessly, towards a better future for all of them? Wretched fools.

"Asch, how timely your appearance is!" She greeted him with a courteous smile. "I was just telling the minister about you and the work you do with General Curtiss in Malkuth." Then she turned to Julius, "...He prefers the name Asch."

"So I've heard," said Julius. Unlike Natalia, he had hair as black as raven's wings. So did the late queen. "Then you must share the princess's opinion that the replicas can be safely integrated into society and that it's not a waste of valuable resources to try. Unfortunately, we cannot reach concurrence in our views. I believe that with the famines in Sheridan and Chesedonia, we cannot afford to waste money on such trivial matters."

That was why he didn't enjoy large gatherings, but for Natalia, he pretended that the topic interested him greatly.

"If it wasn't for those replicas, you wouldn't be alive. It's that simple. Regardless of what you think about them, their sacrifice has to be honored. That's what Na-... the princess intends to accomplish."

"So I've heard," repeated Julius. "We should have thought of a different method, one which did not include giving rash promises."

Asch pursed his lips, "And where were you with that other clever method of yours?" He said contemptuously, extending his hand to the princess. "Natalia, may I?"

She gently placed her hand into his, whispered, 'Thank you, Asch' as she followed him through the crowd to the center of the room, which bathed in brilliant light of numerous fonstones, and there she put her arm on his shoulder, pulled him towards her and they danced (he practiced for hours after Jade and Anise left so as not to make a fool out of himself). The music was slow and pleasant and the couples moved unhurriedly around them, shielding them from vigilant eyes of ministers and his father.

"That minister gives you a lot of trouble," Asch said, leading her in the circle around a middle-aged couple. "I can tell."

"He is the least of my worries. He expresses discontent with my policies sometimes, but he won't oppose me openly. He likes to talk, too. He keeps dinning his grievances in my ears."

Asch almost trod on Natalia's foot, took too long a step backwards, pulling her with him, but she adroitly span on her heels and led him onward into an appropriate pas as though he didn't make that embarrassing blunder. He looked away, pretending he was very interested in the white patterns on the floor.

"Count Almandine interfered with our investigation," he said, closing his eyes. It was almost unreal, Natalia's arm on his shoulder, his wrapped around her waist, gently, as though he was afraid he would break it or that she would disappear.

"Jade told me."

The music faded too soon and reluctantly Asch let go of Natalia's hand. He kept telling himself that she was a queen, but when he looked up and found himself staring at his father, when their eyes met, he had a rather terrifying thought. He never thought about his future with such pragmatism and he felt weak in the knees. And it was wrong to think that he...

"Luke!" The Crimson Herzog hailed him, elbowing his way through the throng.

"Asch, are you going to be all right?" He felt Natalia's hand on his forearm and jerked it away. He would handle his father better if it wasn't for that terrible realization and all he could think of was that his father had no right calling him by that name although he _was_ Luke. He almost ran towards a balcony, hoping to lose the Duke in the crowd of nobles. He succeeded in that, but he also lost Natalia and, instead of solitude, found Anise.

"Asch, you look like you've seen a ghost!" It was dark outside and he couldn't see her face as she spoke. How did she see his?

"I am not afraid of ghosts," he muttered, leaning on the handrail and peering into the darkness. "Where is Jade? I haven't seen him all evening."

"He talked to a scientist from Belkend and left early... So many rich people here and all of them are so boring. What should I do? I thought you'd be with Natalia..."

So Jade was onto something and he should not relax; perhaps, he should look for Almandine, but he was certain the count never showed himself at the ceremony.

"I was with Natalia, but- "

"Asch! Look up!" Suddenly, the princess barged onto the balcony, pointing at the sky with a frightened expression. He span on his heels, raising his head to see what all that ruckus was about.

"Yeah, I don't like the look of it," said Anise and then he saw. The sky was ablaze, as far as the eye could see, with pale light and it was spreading fast every which way until it drove away darkness. Then there was a flash, as bright as the sun, and Asch covered his eyes only to see habitual darkness return when he opened them. But for a moment, he remember it well, the vast of heavens was alight, as though in broad daylight.

"I noticed a brilliant flash of light from the window," he heard Natalia whisper, "and it spread so fast... And now it's gone. You saw it, too, didn't you? It couldn't be just me..."


End file.
